Before the second coming of The Lord Jesus Christ, we who are living in the end times, need to evaluate our faith condition to make sure that we are ready for His coming, so “that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at His coming” (1 John 2:28).

“Examine and test and evaluate your own selves to see whether you are holding to your faith and showing the proper fruits of it. Test and prove yourselves. Do you not yourselves realize and know (thoroughly by an ever-increasing experience) that Jesus Christ is in you – unless you are (counterfeits) disapproved on trial and rejected? But I hope you will recognize and know that we are not (counterfeits) disapproved on trial and rejected” (2 Corinthians 13:5-6; “Amplified Bible”).

Are there Christians who will be rejected to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven? Are we not saved by grace through faith? (Ephesians 2:8). Is not that “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord be saved”? (Acts 2:21). What did the Lord Jesus Himself, the Savior, say about this?

The Lord Jesus taught that: “Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of My Father Who is in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name and driven out demons in Your name and done many mighty works in Your name? And then I will say to them openly (publicly), I never knew you: depart from me, you who act wickedly (disregarding My commands)” (Matthew 7:21-23).

It is true that we are saved by grace through faith. Faith that saves us is faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. When we “acknowledge and confess with our lips that Jesus is Lord and in our heart believe that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9). That was our first experience of salvation. How wonderful it was! If we at that time died soon after we made our confession, for sure we would go to heaven.

This was happened with the man who was crucified at the right side of Christ during the crucifixion (Mark 15:27). After his confession the Lord Jesus assured him that he would go to heaven with him (Luke 23:43). And not long after that man died.

But we are not like that man. We have received another grace in addition to the grace of salvation; that is the grace to continue our lives and the opportunity to live our lives for God who saved us; to work out our salvation (Philippians 2:12).

“Work out (cultivate, carry out to the goal, and fully complete) your own salvation with reverence and awe and trembling (self-distrust, with serious caution, tenderness of conscience, watchfulness against temptation, timidly shrinking from whatever might offend God and discredit the name of Christ). (Not in your own strength) for it is God Who is all the while effectually at work in you (energizing and creating in you the power and desire), both to will and to work for His good pleasure and satisfaction and delight” (Philippians 2:12-13; Amplified Bible).

We do not work for our salvation, but we ought to work out our salvation until we reached the finish line. The important thing is not only the starting point but also reaching the finish line (2 Timothy 4:7). We must “fight the good fight of the faith” (1 Timothy 6:12) and run our race, as long as we still live in this world.

Many Christians misled by their wrong thinking. They thought that just to confess with their mouth that Jesus is the Lord was enough. And then they could continue their sinful life without need to repent. They thought with such kind of Christian’s life they will be accepted in heaven when they leave this life.

We must be careful with our thinking less we will be disappointed. We need to test ourselves and evaluate our faith condition from time to time. Make regular checkup to make sure that we would past the test and not rejected.

We must remember that since we have received our lives as another grace besides salvation, we must keep our faith as long as we live until we reach our finish line. We must keep our faith like a man who keeps his candle burning in the midst of strong wind that blows against it until the sun shines. We must realize that as long as we live our lives our faith faces many challenges that can make it fall. So, we must fight the good fight of faith as the Apostle Paul said to Timothy. Of course, we will not fight with our own strength and rely on ourselves, but with God’s strength that works powerfully in us (Colossians 1:29).

“To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me” (1 Colossians 1:19; NIV Bible). This is also the grace of God: The power of God that works within us that we might able to work out our salvation.

We must work out our salvation with the energy that God supplies into our lives. So we cannot just fold our arms while we are waiting our heavenly calling. We must work together with the Holy Spirit to run our race until we reach the finish line. So like the Apostle Paul we can say: “I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7).

Now, how we evaluate our faith condition? What parameters we use to check or evaluate the condition of our faith? For this, we must learn carefully and thoroughly the teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Source of Salvation.

In Matthew 7: 21, the Lord Jesus taught that: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven…” The word “Me” here were addressed to Jesus Himself. And the man who calls Jesus as “Lord” must be a Christian. So in other word: Not every Christian will enter the kingdom of heaven! Why? What’s wrong with these Christians?

Because they are “counterfeit” Christians! With their lips they call Jesus as Lord but they don’t treat Jesus truly as their Lord; they don’t keep His commands. They are the lords for themselves. Even with their sweet lips they say that they love Him, but they don’t do what Jesus wants them to do.

“If you love me, keep my commands” (John 14:16).

This is one of the parameter to evaluate our faith condition. The Apostle James said, “Faith without deeds is dead” (James 2:26). And the dead faith is unable to save. Keeping God’s commands is the proper deeds of faith. Therefore the Lord Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21).

The will of God the Father is the same with Christ’s commands, because Jesus and the Father are one (John 10:30).

Many Christians call Jesus as their Lord but they do not keep His commands they live only for their own will. They disobey God’s commands, but they still attend the church meeting regularly and even involve in many Church activities which they call it “ministry” because they do it all in Jesus’ name. But actually all they do are their own initiative and ideas without confirming whether those are according to God’s plan and will or not.

This is the problem with many Christians even those who call themselves ministers. They do what God did not ask them to do, but they don’t do what God asked them to do. It was like king Saul, the first king of Israel. He did what he should not do. He offered the sacrifice to God, which supposed to be done by the prophet Samuel. He was sassy! But at another time he disobeyed God’s command by sparing the life of Agag and all the fat sheep with the reason God likes the fat lamb offering. So, because what he did was for God’s sake he thought God would be pleased. Because we have done our plan and ideas in the name of Jesus, we think that God will be pleased with us. Don’t be foolish! Everything that we do, even it seems good, but without obedient to God is wicked in God sight.

“Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice and to heed is better than the fat of rams.” (1 Samuel 15:22. NIV)

If we call Jesus our Lord, we must submit to him and obey him. If not, then actually we ourselves are the lords in our lives.

And the worse is that when we disobey God actually we are obeying Satan’s desire. The main desire of Satan is that all the believers who call themselves God’s children disobey God’s command. That is why disobedient is wickedness before God. May be we saying that we never mean to follow Satan’s desire; we just follow our own desire. But that is the stratagem of the Devil. No one, who insane would follow Satan’s desire, Satan knows that. That is why Satan tempts people to do their own will and not God’s will. As long as God’s children do not follow God’s will, Satan has succeeded in his plan.

Everyone who does the will of the Father is the true child of God. And everyone who does the will of the Devil is actually the Devil’s child, even without realizing it. So, how could the Devil’s child enter the kingdom of heaven?

Jesus once called the Jews who called God as their Father (John 8:41: “the only Father we have is God himself.”) as “the Devil’s children” (verse 44: “You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires”). Why? Were not they the descendants of Abraham, who worshiped Jehovah, the true God? Even they called God as their Father? Yes! But they didn’t want to accept Jesus and believe in Him. In fact they wanted to kill Jesus. They thought they would kill Jesus was in order to defend God and the Law, and God will approve them. They didn’t realize that they actually did the Devil’s desire, because since the beginning the Devil desired to kill the Son of God.

In the same manner, the Christians who only follow their own desire actually, without their knowledge, they are carrying out the Devil’s desire because they disobey God’s commands. Obviously they are counterfeit Christians. And as counterfeit Christians they will be rejected to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

Man’s eyes often could not distinguish the counterfeit Christians from the true Christians. They appear themselves in the same manner outwardly. But God’s eyes can see, even into the deepest of their soul within. But at the end God will test their faith whether their faith is genuine or counterfeit.

It’s like the factory that produces a certain product with a machine. The products that were produced give the same model and appearance. But then there will be a quality control that will test the quality of the products. The product that is not according to the standard will be set aside as “disapproved” or “rejected” because it has failed the test.

According to the teaching of our Lord in Matthew 7:21-22, there are Christians and even ministers who will be rejected to enter the Kingdom of Heaven because of their disobedient and rebellion. Their worships and ministries would be disapproved because they didn’t carry out God’s will but only their own ideas and ambitions. Their ministries were not led by the Holy Spirit. They just followed and carried out their own will.

“Woe to the rebellious children, says the Lord, who carried out the plan that not of me; who entered the alliance that was not moved by My Spirit, that they may add sin to sin” (Isaiah 30:1).

Now, what other parameters we can use to examine our faith condition? “Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with the inscription: ‘The Lord knows those who are his,’ and, ‘Everyone who confess the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness’” (2 Timothy 21:19). This is in accordance with the Lord’s teaching in Matthew 7:23: “Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’”

Does the Lord recognize us as his own? Actually the Lord is the legal owner of our lives because He has purchased us and paid the price by his blood.

“You are not your own; you were bought at a price” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).

But we truly become his only after we surrendered ourselves completely to him. This is our obligation after we received the grace of salvation. But the consequence of our total surrender is that we live in absolute submission and total obedient to Him. When we live our lives as God’s own then God will know us.

The problem is that many Christians do not yield their lives completely to God to become His own. And they will one day be disappointed when the Lord will tell them plainly, “I never knew you!”

Actually God can sue us if we do not deliver our lives to Him. Supposed you buy knockdown furniture from a store. You chose the model and you paid the price by cash. The store then gave you a bill. This bill shows that you legally own the furniture. But in fact you cannot enjoy the furniture until the store delivers it to you. If the store didn’t deliver the furniture you bought then you can sue the store because you were the legal owner of the furniture. In the same manner God will sue those who did not deliver their lives to become his after receiving the grace of salvation. Because we have been bought by God with the blood of His Son (Revelation 5:9).

“With your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation” (Revelation 5:9. NIV)

Christians who do not want to give their lives to God are counterfeit Christians. They never really want to live for God. They just want to attend the Church meeting regularly every Sunday and involve in some church activities. But they want to live their lives according to their own will.

When they go to the church they never really want to seek the Lord and to know Him. As the result they are lack of knowledge of God. Their spiritual life never grow even though they had gone to the church for years. And because they do not really want to know the Lord, the Lord also would not know them. The Lord will reject them to enter his Kingdom and will plainly tell them: “I do not know you!”

“My people perish for lack of knowledge of God” (Hosea 4:6)

If Christians really want to know the Lord and strive earnestly to know Him, the Lord will reveal Himself to them. Their faith condition will grow and get stronger from time to time because they personally will have an ever-increasing experience with God.

“Let us acknowledge the Lord; let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth” (Hosea 6:3)

But why then the Lord will also call them “evildoers”? (Matthew 7:23) The counterfeit Christians are not always criminals. The standard of “good and evil” in God’s sight is different from human’s view. Man’s standard of good and evil was originated from “the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” (Genesis 2:9). Thus it was originated from the spirit of independent from God, apart from God. But the standard of good and evil in the sight of God is “obedient.”

Whatever we do, even if it is good in human’s eyes, an even more we do it in the name of the Lord, but if we do it without submission and obedient to God’s will, then we are evil in the sight of God. King Saul made a burn offering to God without ordered by the prophet Samuel. And the prophet Samuel said to him: “You have done a foolish thing. You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you” (1 Samuel 13:13). “For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness (disobedient) is as iniquity and idolatry” (1 Samuel 15:23; KJV Bible).

So even we said: “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?” But if all those things were done from our own initiative without ordered by God, then God will call us “evildoers.”

Some Christians who call themselves “ministers” prophesied in the name of the Lord. They preached eloquently. People liked their preaching because they preached the message, which suited the people desires, not a sound doctrine (2 Timothy 4:3). Actually they didn’t try to bring people to God but to draw people to themselves. They became popular preacher, famous like celebrity, earned so much money and lived a luxurious life. They misused and abused the word of God and the name of the Lord for their own benefit. They just run after their own ambitions.

They also drove out demons in the name of the Lord, while they themselves lived in rebellion and disobedient to God. How can a rebellious and disobedient person drive out Satan, even in the name of the Lord? Their rebellious and disobedient showed that they actually stood at the same position with Satan, because Satan always rebels against God.

They claim that they have performed many miracles in Jesus’ name. But actually it was not them but God who gave miracles to the people who have come with earnest faith. God appreciated the faith of the people and he did miracles because of His name. But these counterfeit ministers claimed that they had performed the miracles in the name of the Lord though the Holy Spirit did not anoint them.

“Woe to the obstinate (rebellious) children,” declares the Lord, “to those who carry out plans that are not mine, forming an alliance, but not by my Spirit, heaping sin upon sin” (Isaiah 30:1).

So, do not easily claim that we have done something for the Lord and in his name, if it is not of his plan and not at the instigation of the Holy Spirit. The Lord will reject it and disapprove. Good is not enough, adding sincerity makes it better, but obedient to God makes it perfect.

Remember, that one of the purposes of our salvation is to change us into his likeness, that we may become his image in this world. So, when people see us they can see Jesus in our lives and we can lead them to know Christ and be saved like us. But as the image of God our conduct must be in conformation with God’s act. Imagine if your image in the mirror before you, move differently from what you are doing. It’s horrible isn’t it? So if we call ourselves Christians, God’s children, but we are acting contrary with God’s act, then we are counterfeit Christians and evildoers.

Whatever we do, we must do it in faith and in accordance with God’s will and plan, lest we will be rejected and disapproved.

With these parameters we can evaluate our faith condition, whether we are true Christians or counterfeits: whether we are accepted or rejected.

Our obedient and intimacy with God are the proper fruits that shows we are solid in faith. We have to keep our solid faith until we reach our finish line. These fruits also show and prove that Christ really lives within us. Christ in us is the guarantee for our salvation. This must be our conviction, which is confirmed by the anointing of the Holy Spirit. So we are standing on the solid foundation not just mere saying that “Christ in me.” Our conviction is based upon our ever-increasing experience with God and the proper fruits that we produced.

If after we evaluate ourselves we find ourselves as counterfeit, because we could not find proper fruits in us, then immediately fix the condition of our faith and spiritual life. But if we find for sure that we are already “on the right track” then keep it that way until we reach our finish line when we will hear the Lord saying: “Well done, good and faithful servant! Come and share your master’s happiness!” (Matthew 25:21).

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day – and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for this appearing” (2 Timothy 4:7).